Death Rock Dawn.
20 minutes before sunrise at the southern end of Embleton Bay, Northumbria and the sky literally caught fire. It had been a 4.30 am start from the rental house in Seahouses and a dash down the roads to park in the dark and start the walk across the golf course to the beach with the head torch guiding the way. You never know what you will get in the way of sunrise. The early portents were not good. Then comes the really exhilaratingly dangerous bit! Trying to make your way in the dark over these greasy, oily bowling balls of dolerite on a receding tide! They are not called the "death rocks" for nothing, they are positively lethal and must see many an injured photographer and a litany of insurance claims for damaged and broken photography equipment, such is their hazard!
Anyway, unscathed but still like Bambi on ice, I managed to set myself and tripod in a semi secure position and awaited developments. I was lucky I was completely alone at this location and around 5.30 the sky started to get really interesting. The light over Dunstanburgh Castle was phenomenal and the backdrop to the Lilburn Tower looked like it had been painted by a surrealist artist! It was one of the most memorable mornings I have ever had at the coast with my camera and will live long in the memory. There is something about the light and colour at dawn in Northumbria that you don't get elsewhere and I can't wait to return at some point soon, when the lockdown ends. Just wished I had framed the shot a bit better and got a sharper foreground! Hey but we all learn!!
Death Rock Dawn.
20 minutes before sunrise at the southern end of Embleton Bay, Northumbria and the sky literally caught fire. It had been a 4.30 am start from the rental house in Seahouses and a dash down the roads to park in the dark and start the walk across the golf course to the beach with the head torch guiding the way. You never know what you will get in the way of sunrise. The early portents were not good. Then comes the really exhilaratingly dangerous bit! Trying to make your way in the dark over these greasy, oily bowling balls of dolerite on a receding tide! They are not called the "death rocks" for nothing, they are positively lethal and must see many an injured photographer and a litany of insurance claims for damaged and broken photography equipment, such is their hazard!
Anyway, unscathed but still like Bambi on ice, I managed to set myself and tripod in a semi secure position and awaited developments. I was lucky I was completely alone at this location and around 5.30 the sky started to get really interesting. The light over Dunstanburgh Castle was phenomenal and the backdrop to the Lilburn Tower looked like it had been painted by a surrealist artist! It was one of the most memorable mornings I have ever had at the coast with my camera and will live long in the memory. There is something about the light and colour at dawn in Northumbria that you don't get elsewhere and I can't wait to return at some point soon, when the lockdown ends. Just wished I had framed the shot a bit better and got a sharper foreground! Hey but we all learn!!